Those who live along the path around the Falls and are somewhat obsessed with the calendar know there are critical markers as we wind our way through each year. Even though February is the shortest month, it has a number of important markers.
Friday was Valentine’s Day, one of those special days creating high levels of stress at flower shops, where the delivery list most likely is longer than any other day in the year. In some situations that stress transfers to those members of the male gender who fail to have their significant other’s name and address on that list of deliveries from the flower shop.
Each year multiple deliveries are made to our school offices, creating lots of smiles, curiosity about the intended recipients and occasional blushes.
Another calendar marker occurred Monday with President’s Day. There was no mail service, but fortunately, Internet messages were still transferred. As a result, for most people it was business as usual. Those who are long enough in the tooth will remember the time before President’s Day became a national holiday.
Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated on Feb. 12, and Washington’s was on Feb. 22. Elementary teachers could do log cabin projects with the first and cherry tree activities with the second. Today, not much time is spent on either, since President’s Day doesn’t have quite the color of either of the two former birthday celebrations.
Another calendar marker occurred Saturday when Oconto Falls High School hosted the wrestling regionals. For many wrestlers, that was the end of their season and their journey to the WIAA state wrestling tournament in Madison. The Panthers did well, with six individuals continuing to sectional competition.
Wrestling is a team sport, and those who did not advance still have important roles to play as they continue to prepare and to support those fellow wrestlers who are moving on to the next rung in that ladder to earn the medal as a state champion. The point is that February marks the end of a number of varsity winter sports seasons. Can spring sports be that far off if the winter seasons are coming to a close?
Often in February, observers might detect a calendar marker of warm weather hinting at the end of winter, but such is not the case this year, with another one-two punch of additional snowfall forecast for this week. Similar to last year, there may be a delay in the start of spring sports competition due to field conditions.
Where a heavy snow cover blankets the ground, the frost depth is not very deep. On the other hand, where the snow has been cleared, the frost has gone deep, due to the prolonged cold. Two side effects have been rougher roads due to frost heaves and occasional water line ruptures due to frozen lines.
February may come to be known as the running water month as various utilities have asked their customers to keep the water running to prevent supply pipes from freezing. Homeowners may also find that opening the doors below sinks can help prevent frozen pipes if supply lines are running through outside walls. This observer experienced a frozen hot water line to an upstairs bathroom sink on three different occasions this winter. The doors below the sink are left open all the time now.
Given the combination of weather-related difficulties, it may be a blessing that February is the shortest month of the year. Other than leap years, February has exactly four weeks. As a result, except for the end of the month, the March calendar looks just like the February calendar. That can be a real advantage for people who tend to be a little tardy in flipping over the pages of their calendars.
Even though the first 28 days of March will fall on the same days of the week as they did in February, guys who missed the first Valentine’s Day won’t get a second chance in March, and the postal mail is scheduled to be delivered every day of the week except Sunday. We also hope and pray that we will make a stronger transition to spring weather next month. This stuff can’t go on forever.
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